Here?s a New York Times article on The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer. The author is Julian Dibbell, who also wrote ?My Tiny Life? and ?Play Money?. As I was reading the article, I began wondering if gold-farming could be a pervasive game. If pervasive games are supposed to combine ?play? with ?serious? life (I?ll leave the debate about the existence / lack of a separation to you), then does earning virtual money in order to live your real life mean that playing the game is a pervasive experience? Consider also the gold farmer?s comments that they sometimes ?play? even while they?re working.

There?s something in my gut that says this isn?t pervasive, but I think it?s useful and interesting to consider these questions right now, as we speculate about what the qualities of pervasive games are. What do I think are the qualities of pervasive games? I?ll take a page from Justice Stewart?s 1964 line about obscenity: I?ll know it when I see it. ?Dan Sutko

Posted in General |